Problems with 4cc aesthetics in PES18

Problems with 4cc aesthetics in PES18
(from least to most important indicatively)


- Different model format, .fmdl instead of .model
+ BA made an experimental plugin which seems to export stuff properly already.


Stadiums
- In addition to the above, the folder structure changed completely, so none of our current custom stadiums work yet nor there is a way to convert them.
+ Retextured versions of the default stadiums can be done since we do have a way to edit the new ftex textures, which are just encoded dds textures.


Kits
+ They all are in the new ftex texture format but there's a tool to convert current dds textures via drag and drop.
- In addition to the usual kit configs, there's now also a huge UniformParameter.bin file which contains the kit configs from all the teams, and which has to be updated every time you edit a kit config.
+ The export compiler will probably be updated to implement a function for updating this bin, testing will be needed to check if compiling won't be slowed down too much.
+ Kits also work by using the ingame editor to import one texture at a time, although this is unpractical for cups with more than 10 teams.


Models
- Every single model used currently will need converting. This consists, in the simplest case of a basic blender head, in at the very least importing in blender and exporting with the new plugin, so we'll probably need managers to give us a hand with the bulk of the work (we'd obviously make a short guide and the process is simple, just repetitive) unless BA manages to make a batch converter which does the steps automatically. need to reexport everything (BA made a new plugin already thing).


- mtls (files found in face folders which tell pes what textures to use for the models) are now included in model files and can only be edited via hex editing.
+ BA's latest plugin allows editing them easily from inside the blender interface.


- The texture folder paths in mtls, which used to be relative (which means they pointed to the face folder itself, allowing you to have the textures in the same folder as the models, whatever the player ID) are now absolute and require putting the textures of each model in a separate folder and either giving these a unique name or making it depend on the player ID.
+ Automatic path+folder renaming will be added to the export compiler allowing to keep bundling the textures with the models in the face folders included in an aesthetics export, but we're not completely sure whether this will work yet.


- Face folders don't have an xml inside anymore, so models can't be added freely nor set to use the team's kit as a texture anymore. This means any extra models need a workaround to be set on players (the currently found solution is setting them in the boots slots, but it'll need testing to see whether it works properly). This would also make models used as kits like /u/ and /co/'s unusable, unless another workaround is found for those (maybe setting them in the collar slots, though this would force all the players to use the exact same body, so it wouldn't work for /co/ and it would force /u/ to dismiss fate and nanoha).


- Ball-type models (aka static models) set on players, which can be recognized by them gliding around instead of jumping around (e.g. cardboards like truck-kun and krispen wah, /o/'s cars) don't work anymore. Instead of following the player's center dot they stay fixed in the middle of the pitch and never move from there.


- The default Full body models from pes, which are used as a base for exporting our FBMs, are now split into top and bottom pieces and each is missing most of the bones the other uses, so converting our current models and even making new ones would take a huge amount of work for each since you'd need to find a split for each of them in a way that makes them use only the bones available to each of their halves.
- This is the most important point and finding a solution to this and getting FBMs in general to work is what the move to 18 hinges on, even if static models were still unusable.
- The best solution would be managing to merge the bones from the two halves of a default model into a single mesh, getting the exact same template models we had in 17. Unfortunately though, there is now a limit for the amount of bones usable by a single mesh (32 out of the 55 of the full medical suit model, the one most commonly used) so this can't be done unless we renounce to a few bones in order to get a 32-bone mesh with all the bones most commonly used.
+ With BA's latest plugin choosing what bones you want to use in your mesh can be done though a blender panel. This function is experimental, so it'll need testing to see if it works properly, but things look bright. FBMs from 17 would still need some work to convert since most of them were made with a method that results in them using all the 55 bones from the default model, but it's feasible in almost all cases since a lot of those bones are not essential and just used for a slightly smoother player movement.


In short, things aren't nearly ready yet but not all hope is lost.



Last updated 8/12/17